Baha Mar, Yea or Nay!

By Felix Bethel
Rough Cut
jonesbahamas



While we recognize that some of our fellow-Bahamians might cower in the face of opposition, we will not be deterred by some of the noise in the market that emanates from some of our brothers and sisters who are apparently opposed to the Baha Mar project.

So, today, with our eyes are focused on the price of the fish; we reiterate our support for the self-same Bahama Mar project.

And for sure, we hope and pray that the current administration will – yet- throw their support behind the venture; thus bringing to an amicable conclusion negotiations that have gone on for far too long.

In addition, we are fairly sure that there are other investors who are watching closely as one administration continues with a project initiated by its predecessor – watching to see the extent to which “politics” must be factored into their calculus of costs versus benefits of doing business in the Bahamas.

Here let there be no mistake about the importance of this matter; one that brings with it some very high stakes for the entire nation.

As we have previously suggested and explained, “…Let there be no mistake about the matter at hand – the Baha Mar project is a very big deal; it is not only a big deal to the investors who are putting their money on the line; but for sure, it is a huge deal for both the government and the people of The Bahamas.

“And here, let there be no mistake about another aspect of the matter involving this project – this project brings with it a large chance that – once completed – tens of thousands of Bahamians will benefit, either directly or indirectly…”

This remains our view; thus today, we find ourselves [for better or worse and thus like a host of other right-thinking Bahamians] in a most unlikely position; this being that while we are all fulsome in our support of the Baha Mar investment project, we are apparently at loggerheads with the nation’s chief.

We are now left to wonder why Mr. Ingraham apparently sees things so very differently; and in our wonderment, we note that while it was Mr. Ingrham himself who personally tabled the resolution in Parliament, with 100% support from the FNM MPs, approving the labor permits for the required skilled expatriate labor force necessary to help build Baha Mar; today it is the prime minister himself who now decries the Chinese labor requirements.
And for sure, there is more.

Here we note another reversal; this one concerning the time when the Ingraham administration itself somehow or the other, forced the Baha Mar project to enter into a Supplemental Heads of Agreement; this one requiring the entire project to be built in one phase, and imposing penalties if it is not.

Now that things have apparently changed or gone sour; we note that the prime minister has completely reversed himself and that he now demands that the project should be constructed in multiple phases.

Here the implication is clear; such a move would incur more costs to the investor and commensurately, reduced economic and job benefits to the Bahamas.

In this latter instance of losses projected, we can recite some who stand to lose most: Bahamian contractors and their employees; the Bahamian labor unions; community leaders; and countless Bahamian businesses, including the Chamber of Commerce.

In light of the foregoing, we reiterate a point previously made to the effect that this Baha Mar project is good for the Bahamas and that as such, its approval should be put on the fast track.

In addition, we would very much like both the governing party and its Opposition to know that each would do itself a world of good by working together so as to bring about an optimal resolution as regards the same Chinese funded initiative.

Incidentally, all of these groups and interests support the Baha Mar project and recognize the immediate and real benefits they will gain from its going forward.

As we have previously framed the issue at hand; so today we reiterate our view to the effect that, “…Those law-makers who mean this country and its people well should – as a matter of the most urgent priority – cease and desist from any tricks or shenanigans which might either detract from or otherwise distract them from supporting the Baha Mar venture.

Yet again, we make this plea to these men and women because of some of what we perceive as little more than pious nit-picking on the part of some politicians who are making – as far as we are concerned – a mountain of what is surely a very real mole-hill; that being with the Chinese request for thousands of expatriate workers who would assist in constructing the resort complex.

Evidently, now is the time for a yea or a nay on that matter involving Baha Mar and its myriad of opportunities for the Bahamian people.

jonesbahamas

Bahamas Blog International

Weak Leadership Concerns about The Bahamas Hotel Catering & Allied Workers Union (BHCAWU)

Former Leaders of The Hotel Union are Very Concerned and Disappointed" in The Direction the Union is Headed

Hotel Union "In Reverse" - Says Former VP

By Candia Dames

Candiadames@hotmail.com

14/01/2004

The weather is rough and the hotel union needs a strong captain, according to its former Vice President Alexander Thompson.

In an interview with the Bahama Journal Tuesday, he said if former union President Thomas Bastian were still in charge, the present contract negotiations with the Hotel Employers Association would have ended long ago.

Mr. Thompson, 66, who served as vice president of the union for 12 years, said his former colleague, Mr. Bain, is a "good person", but a "weak leader."

"The president can not be hot and cold at the same time.  He has to make decisions," Mr. Thompson said, while noting that Mr. Bastian was "very concerned and disappointed" in the direction the union was headed.

He noted that under the leadership of Mr. Bain, the union did not have the skills needed to hold on to Worker's Bank, which was bought by Bank of The Bahamas.

"I think Mr. Bain likes to please everybody and that can't happen," he added.  "The employers don't seem to have a high regard for leadership of the union."

Mr. Thompson also intimated that he and Mr. Bastian were pained by what they perceived to be the slow progress made by the union under Mr. Bain's leadership.

"[Mr. Bastian] is concerned because we've put so much years into this union and that wasn't easy," Mr. Thompson said.  "He's concerned for the union and for the workers."

But not all trade unionists agree that Mr. Bain is a weak leader.

Frank Carter, former president of the Airport Airline and Allied Workers Union, believes that Mr. Bain has simply been getting a bad rap and that there is a bias against him in the media.

"It's mainly because the employers have been very successful in getting their propaganda out and unions usually lose the public relations battle.  We don't have the sort of financial resources or the friends in the media like the employers," said Mr. Carter, who is also the 1st vice president of the umbrella organization, the National Congress of Trade Unions, which Mr. Bain also heads.

He said, "I think Mr. Bain tries to listen to all points of view. He tries to be more inclusive of the views of his executive team to come to positions by consensus. His style is just different from Thomas Bastian's, whose style was different from David Knowles'."

Mr. Carter is now the principal of an industrial and labour relations consultancy firm in Palmdale. He said that it is not unusual for the union and the association to still be negotiating a new agreement after 16 months.

"I'm not surprised," Mr. Carter said. "If you look at other negotiations in The Bahamas over the years and negotiations in other jurisdictions, you would find that this is not so much out of the ordinary. I believe the high visibility and at times the public pronouncements by both sides and also the concerns of the government have brought more attention to these negotiations."

He said he once negotiated for 22 months with Bahamasair for a new contract.

"Sometimes it is very difficult," Mr. Carter pointed out.  "So I can understand [the difficulty faced by] Brother Pat Bain and his team and I can also understand [the difficulty faced by] Mr. Barrie Farrington who heads the employers' team."

Mr. Carter added that members of the union's executive team were working well together and to suggest otherwise would be incorrect.

But Mr. Thompson has doubts about that.

"They have some serious problems as I understand it," he told the Bahama Journal.

 Mr. Thompson, who has been out of active trade unionism for a few years, advised Mr. Bain to be willing to give up more, although he acknowledged that he had no inside information on the talks.

"You never get what you want," he said.

But Mr. Thompson conceded that the 12 percent salary increase the union is demanding is reasonable.

"If you look at the workers at the lower end, people in the kitchen and the garden, that's not really doing too much for them," he said.

Government officials mediating the talks expect that the matter will come to a head before the end of the week.